Cuttack revenue inspector arrested for bribery in mutation case

Cuttack: Vigilance sleuths arrested revenue inspector (RI) Janaki Ranjan Mallik in Cuttack district on Thursday for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a landowner to process a mutation case.Vigilance officers said the landowner had applied online for mutation and issuance of record of rights (RoR). Though hearing in the case was scheduled for Jan 27, Mallik, RI of Kakhadi circle under Sadar tehsil, allegedly called the applicant to his office on Jan 20 and demanded Rs 10,000 for submitting a favourable report and issuing the patta. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the landowner approached vigilance and lodged a complaint.“Based on the complaint, a trap was laid by vigilance officers. Mallik was caught red-handed in his office while accepting the bribe amount. The entire sum of Rs 10,000 was recovered from his possession and seized as evidence. A case has been registered against him,” a vigilance officer said.Following the arrest, vigilance teams carried out simultaneous searches at three locations linked to Mallik to probe possible disproportionate assets. The searches are being conducted as part of a wider investigation into his financial dealings.Vigilance has registered a case against Mallik under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway to ascertain whether he was involved in similar corrupt practices in other cases.